Regarding dropping an RIA versus any other brand:
The dropped pistol was a 1911
A1. Any 1911 pistol that is the A1 version - and that includes ALL GI replicas or real GI collectibles - is going to face that issue, regardless of manufacturer. It is a known "weakness" in the design, going all the way back to the original. And I say this as a lover of 1911s who owns a 1943 vintage Ithaca 1911A1
and a modern Kimber and a modern Springfield.
All of the 5 1911s in our safe are dead-nuts reliable. We wouldn't keep them if they weren't. The one I used to have (it was a Sig GSR) that wasn't reliable, I got rid of. This collection includes 3 pistols that are in the A1 configuration: that old Ithaca, a Taurus PT1911, and a Springfield Loaded.
I don't carry the Ithaca, because it is a memento of my father's WW2 service. The Taurus and one of the Kimbers are my sons, and I don't carry them. But I regularly carry the other Kimber and the Springfield, and they are both more reliable and
more accurate than that old Ithaca. Why more reliable? Because the basic old GI design works best with hardball ammo, and the modern Springfield - also an A1 - seems to accommodate hollowpoints just fine.
With all due respect, I think you're obsessing, or "over-thinking" if you prefer, over the choice of a Norinco, and the "harder steel" angle is largely a myth. In the price range you want, the RIA pistols will more than suit your needs. The dropped pistol mentioned above discharged because it landed muzzle down and the firing pin inertia overcame the firing pin spring. This is a known issue for all 1911A1 pistols, regardless of manufacturer, but there are a couple of different easy and inexpensive fixes -
three if you count "don't drop the pistol." The other two fixes are either a stronger firing pin spring, or a lightened (titanium) firing pin - or a combination thereof. My Springfield Loaded has a titanium firing pin. It came from the factory that way.
In any case, the above dropped pistol is the only personal account I've ever seen of someone actually having such a discharge, let alone having one and being injured by it. In the meantime, there are plenty of "Glock Kaboom" stories (not to pick on Glocks, but merely to illustrate the point), and Kahr Arms malfunction stories, etc., etc., to prove the point that if you try hard enough, you'll find someone, somewhere, who will denigrate a particular brand or design as junk. Some
are junk. But if you're not already a 1911 owner, and you are basing your opinion about brand on "what you heard," then you are short-changing yourself.
And think about this: The reason that so many 1911 makers offer their pistols with upgrades from the basic 1911 design - A1 or not - upgrades such as beavertail grip safeties, extended thumb safeties, extended slide stop levers, upgraded sights (you'll be
really unhappy with the basic GI sights on a 1911; they totally suck), "commander" style hammers, upgraded triggers, etc., etc., is that they make the pistol
BETTER, not less reliable. You shoot enough rounds with a standard GI model, and you'll wish for that beavertail grip safety and a commander style hammer. The money you save on bandaids would buy those parts.
If you want the best of both worlds, that is to say GI reliability, with upgraded features like those above,
and for under $500, go find yourself a RIA Tactical model and quit worrying about Internet commando myths about the hardness of the steel.
Just my 2ยข.
Bump. Let me know if you have a Norinco available for sale. Thanks!